Ganagu/The Old Order
The Old Order is an ancient belief system, established with a fairly concrete canon around 230 (Before St. ) in Ganykdemir. Its mythos is rife with mythology and religious depth, rivaling those of other religions in Ganagu, and it is the source of nearly all religion in modern-day Ganykdemir, and a few areas abroad. Although it is consistent for the most part, there are divergences by region to suit the areas' tastes and cultures. Mythos text that is canon in Zafarganyk is in yellow, while canon text in Medurimadi is in green, and canon text in other countries or disciples is in grey. __TOC__ The Creation Myth Before the Earth, before the Heavens, before Time, Space, and Reality, there was the Nothing. The Nothing was a deep, empty void which consumed all. But within the Nothing came the Something---a mass of uncontrolled spark, containable only by the Nothing. Though the Something was capable of radical change and sentience, the Nothing it was prisoner to was not. And so it was for eons. Then, at one fateful point, the Something had an epiphany---to break free of the Nothing, it had to experience Death, the loss of memory and consciousness that transforms. Although reluctant, the Something eventually grew more restless than that and desired Death. And so, it died, causing the Nothing to fall apart. And when the Nothing fell apart, it became interwined with the former Something. The two mixed and coagulated together into a woman, a bald, ear-less, transparent woman with six arms and a desire to create. The desire was much so that when the time came, that woman, (Mother), created a bright spark---Reality, the last remnant of the Something that was unmerged---within her belly. The more Reality she created within herself, the more it grew, filling her head, her arms, and her body. The Reality that reached her head protruded in the form of hair. And as Reality grew within (Mother), it outgrew her meager chest and belly, the former pushing out into two pockets---breasts---and the latter pushed outward with the fruits of her laborous creation. Reality still grew, lengthening her hair, growing her breasts and belly, and transforming her into a rounder form. Soon, her hair became a shield, wrapping around her as she grew further. Soon, her body grew round and vast beyond comprehension. Soon, the Reality that was within her became bright and immeasurable. One half-year after that spark survived the creation of (Mother), it had grown into the Universe, and (Mother)'s now-spherical body was its ultimate barrier. The Birth of the Gods and Demons Reality---now the Universe---remained a bright illuminance for more eons, before some of it mixed with some of (Mother)'s body to produce the first omniscient beings, Power and Love. Power was of a masculine build, Love a feminine one, and both adored each other. They embraced, and both brought forth children. Love brought forth the Gods, Power brought forth the Demons. The Gods and Demons were once vast in number, and human of form. They coexisted peacefully within the Universe, and though neither could breed with the other race, both would engage often in physical pleasure. The Demons would support the Gods, and the Gods would comfort the Demons. It would seem that this peace would be the Universe's fate. But only eons after their conception, bad things would happen. Worsening Relations It all began when Love and Power began desiring each other less sexually. Even though they did still adore each other, it was beginning to show less often. Soon, they stopped procreating and making life. This meant that the number of Gods and Demons was no longer infinite, as was hoped. Power himself was becoming less handsome, century by century. Being made more of the late Nothing than the late Something meant he was starting to become more physically corrupted. Love on the other hand was made only with a single tiny fragment of Nothing, and at first (not knowing the destructive, silencing power of the Nothing) tried comforting Power, which worked for so long as he did not complain of sudden pain or discomfort. This became shorter and less often, and the Gods and Demons started worrying about their ancestors. Soon, Power---once an attractive, virile ultragod---withered into an old, senile wreck, whereas Love remained young as ever. The corruption wasn't just physical, however; he soon began resenting her, harboring worse feelings towards her, and often began believing she was turning him into a lowly chaotic being. And then, after so long a period of peace and pure outright happiness, the decrepit Power suddenly lashed out against Love, turning his rage into violence against the one who he once loved with all his heart. Love, not understanding, was bewildered as to this sudden predicament, but as she did not know of the Nothing, could not subdue him. Power gathered all his Demons, making sure not to miss any one, and told them all his scatterbrained lies about her, horrifying them with his descriptions of enslaving him with his feminine wiles, and encouraging him to strike at the gods. Believing this was the case, they all rallied behind him, getting revenge on the so-called "malevolence". Love, however, was visited by many of the Gods, where she described what happened, but also warned that they were never to harm him or the Demons, still believing he could be saved. Those Gods took it to heart, but when they told the other Gods this, they became incensed as to what happened, and decided to get revenge for Love. It was when the Demons frenzied by the propaganda of the senile man Power met those Gods who defied Love's wish that the first conflict ever---a war---happened. The First War The Demons and the warring Gods began fighting upon meeting, and began destroying each other by great numbers, often throwing hatred and spite at each other. Those who tried to stop the war, like Demons who were more horrified of the sudden destruction of their brethren, or the Gods who so desperately desired to end the conflict, all met the same dark fate of an unpleasant death. Worse still, the dying ones started spewing blood as thick and black as night, which started eating at the core of the Universe. But perhaps the most interesting thing was that the Demons---those who followed Power without question---started deforming along with them. They developed more simister anatomies, designed to kill and scare, as their hearts became more and more twisted with the passion that Power let consume them. Soon, they barely resembled humans at all. And yet the Gods persevered with their fight against the monsters that the Demons became. This war lasted several long eons, until one God managed a successful assault against the greatest monster---Power himself. The result was that Power, too fragile to continue leading, fell apart into pieces that were scattered through the broken Universe. Seeing their ancestor and leader killed, the Demons lost their resolve, and cowered before the victors. The warring Gods, however, decided enough was enough and killed many of the Demons in a great bloodbath. Aftermath The Universe, torn apart by the war, hardly seemed like it could hold on further than a few more eons, and suddenly became less hospitable to the Gods, many of whom died later of trauma, on account of realizing that they had actually defied Love and that Power could have just been laid to rest before the rampage. Only twelve Gods remained---all were young at the time, and were sent to (Mother)'s Navel during the war---and in the aftermath they were called back to find a dying Love, weeping over the loss. Even then, she still believed that she could still persevere, as did her happiness with the once friendly Power. She then broke herself with the last of her power into twelve pieces, each of which was grafted into a God. Those artifacts not only granted them immortality, but also gave them command over the few repentant surviving Demons. Realizing that they now had a duty, one which never existed before, the Gods set about cleaning up the mess left by the war. Reconstruction and Creation of Life The Twelve Gods set about restoring order to the Universe, which had been stained with darkness since the end of the First War. After making sure the outer shell of the Universe was intact, they moved on to cleaning up everything within. The Demons that wanted to redeem themselves went into voluntary servitude under the Gods, who took them into their care and let them help with the reconstruction. They found that the pieces of the Universe which had been left clean were roughly spherical, and so they set about making the stars out of them. Then they found larger spheres, which they made the moons and sun from. They also found pieces of the Universe which had lost their luminance in the War, making them into planets both big and small. Once that was done, they found the one major area where the conflict was only heard of, the one where Love once was. It was an impressive size, giving the illusion that it was as large as (Mother) herself, even though they knew otherwise. They set about making a planet of it for its dimness, but soon found that it was very large anyway. So they each split it into twelve parts, each for one God, who created their share as they saw fit. When that was done, they fitted the pieces back together, making a dynamic planet that could integrate its parts into a whole. The Gods looked on in awe as their planet slowly became a powerful object in its own right. They created the world of Ganagu. The Gods, duly impressed, began settling there of all places. There, they began creating life from the systems. The plants, the grass, the moss that grows upon the rocks of the mighty Xenyndoan, all owe their existence to the Gods. They created the sky to sustain the life, made the sun their benefactor, and gave them plenty of water to grow. From the hearsay of the Demons that once were kind, and at the behest at those who still were, they created the animals, and each God found their favorite and patronized it with their gifts. The animals would all only sustain themselves with the plants that the Gods felt would be beneficial to them, and they would all feel the warmth of the sun and have plenty to drink. And to see to it that they would remember their ancestors Love and Power, they worked together to create the most complex and godlike of all animals.... The Creation of Man The Gods came upon their creation, and found that it was very peaceful, yet somehow, something was amiss. They found that, no matter how nice Ganagu was, it always lacked something. When they looked within themselves one night, they found the truth---it was missing a trace of their own kind. One that could manipulate objects with their hands, one that could stand upright, one that bore the knowledge of the Gods themselves. And so they set about creating mankind. Tuarku used the dirt that was found where they stood, and with water found in a nearby stream by Ponthyo molded the first man, which he named after himself, in the image of his brother Nimbau. He also made as a companion and soulmate the first woman, Akaby; she had her namesake from the goddess who blessed her with fertility much like (Mother) herself. Tuarku gave them strength and shapeliness, while Dun gave them wisdom and the gift of healing. Ghaofu gave them passion and warmth, and Tyurno gifted them with emotions, but so as not to make them rash like their brethren who perished in the First War, both let Zhetea give them reason to counter their urges. Zirpho gave them the sense of duty and workmanship, so as to tend to the world when the Gods left, and Khaylth gave them the power to create, much like what they could do. Nimbau himself gave the duo courage and motivation for Khaylth's gifts, so that they would not be wasted. Paozhua gave them dreams and hope, and finally Lyarshuy bestowed intuition upon them, so as to be able to see beyond the shadows of doubt. When the time came to bring man and woman unto the world, Zhetea came forth and breathed air into the lungs of both, so that their souls could be created. The time spent on their creation was well worth it---both came to life, and recognized the Gods as their masters. The humans swore to do as the Gods had hoped for them to do, which made the Gods happy, so that they would not need to do it themselves. And so it came to pass that the humans worked for the Gods, and so reaped their benefits. Man's Sin When the gods first made the humans Tuarku and Akaby, they were pure and noble of heart, and bore love towards each other. When the time came they mated and Akaby bore the first child, which they so named Yora, as they found her to be the purest offering of the Gods. They also bore eleven other children, six boys and five girls, to keep Yora company and mate with each other when the time came. And so it came to pass, that each generation mated with itself at the right time and brought forth children of the next generation, so that they may also do so and bring forth children as well. And so it was peaceful on Ganagu. Yet, something was not right. The Gods themselves could not see it at first, as could not the humans. The peace they were living in was somehow, but for no reason, a tenuous one. No matter how or where they looked, even into themselves, they could not find a single instance of wrong. The people were happy, well fed by nature, and performed their duties so well that their animals prospered. Villages came after, built with the materials created by the fusion of the elements into a whole world. Everyone felt content and willing to live. And yet, the Gods were uneasy about the world which they shaped long ago. It was as if something bad had happened and the humans were trying to cover it up. Then, one night, the Goddess of Ice and Dreams, Paozhua, had an appalling nightmare. One that was so terrible, she woke up with a fury that sent the world into a chill. When the other Gods came to see her about what happened, she told all: Paozhua's Nightmare "I had a most horrible experience dreaming just now. I was walking amongst the new village that other day where they kept the livestock in a common grazing area. It was in the middle of the day, and I felt tired and thirsty. So I approached the nearest neighbor, hoping he would share some fresh goat's milk, or at least some water from the stream. While I was waiting for him to respond to the door, I heard him shuffle around, while another person---I believe his wife---came and talked to him about his laziness. No, she admonished him, that was how I heard it! But on the matter, she said that he never helped her out and always berated her for even trying to leave him for another. At first he was trying to reason with her, insisting he couldn't pull his weight around all the time, and he had other interests. Yet the wife persisted in the verbal abuse, and somehow he was getting angrier at each claim, more furiously denying it, perhaps even trying to counterattack her. Then...silence. Followed by him in a heavy tone, saying something. Something about uselessness. And before she could respond, I could hear a cracking noise, followed by what I thought was random sounds from within. And then more silence. Minutes later, the door opened.... "He was how should I put it, disfigured. He looked to be short, thick, possibly angry. The implement he held seemed menacing, as if it could slice a human in half, and it looked quite stained. All in all, he was much uglier than Tuarku's design. And it seemed he only had a facade of joy upon meeting a stranger. He greeted me in the usual manner, and offered me some 'meat'. I did not know what 'meat' was, so I accepted. As I walked in to find the dining table, I saw his wife on the floor, unmoving. She was battered and bruised, like a bird whose wings were crushed by an accidental rock toss. When I got down on my knees to get a closer look at her I found that her neck was broken. She was so beautiful, so gentle and sweet. Why would the man do this to her? I thought. Then I heard footsteps, and turned around to see that he had prepared 'meat'. I looked at it, what with its unusual texture and strangely familiar smell. I didn't really care about what it was, as I was getting hungry as well. So I took it by the hand, opened my mouth to eat it. "It was then that I recognized the smell---it was the flesh of an innocent animal! "Repulsed, I set it back on my plate, my appetite in ruins by the implications. The man, confused, asked me what the matter was. I, pretending to be none the wiser, asked him what the 'meat' was made of. He told me plainly that it was the flesh of a young deer, roasted over an open fire and salted lightly." The Great Deluge Aftermath Other Myths/Variants (Note: Mythos text that is canon in Zafarganyk is in yellow, while canon text in Medurimadi is in green, and canon text in other countries or disciples is in grey.) Category:Ganagu